Pothole claims guide discussion

Where have you hidden it? I can't see it anywhere.

MrCautious wrote: »

I don't like this kind of thing. You are moving into the no win no fee kind of territory. The compensation culture we are becoming s not pleasant.

I'm sorry - I don't understand your post. It's very scary having a blow out - I wouldn't wish it on anyone. This isn't about compensation. Its reparation and hopefully making authorities take the dangers of un-repaired potholes more seriously.

One evening last December we were one of a number of motorists who hit a deep pothole which resulted in me needing a replacement steel wheel and tyre. Our council has an online facility for reporting potholes which I used to report this and several others and they were all patched within a few days. Despite my misgivings about claiming I did so as it was obvious that this pothole had only recently been patched but the plug of tarmac had come out leaving a sheer sided hole nearly six inches deep and two feet across which when full of water was invisible in the dark. The following morning I took several photos of the pothole and damage to the car at which time two other motorists stopped to say that they had also sustained serious damage to their vehicles on the same evening. I actually picked up several wheel trims (including mine) that were lying on the verge where other cars had hit the same pothole.
After completing an online claim form and sending the pictures and a quote for a new wheel, tyre and tracking check I received a payment of £277 from my local authority. My advice would therefore be to first check whether the authority responsible for the road in question was already aware of the pothole and if not, when they last checked the road as they are legally obliged to do this periodically. Common sense and fairness needs to prevail as the Council can hardly be expected to accept responsibility for something they could not reasonably have been aware of. If however it turns out that this was a known problem and no remedial action had been taken then it may be reasonable to submit a claim. If this is the case make sure you provide a clear explanation of what happened, when, where and what the resultant damage was with photographs and a proper garage quote to support your claim.
It took quite a lot of time and effort to submit a claim but I was very pleased with the response and result so cannot fault the Council in the way they responded and acted having met my claim in full.